All You Need to Know About Twitter’s Upcoming Audio Spaces Feature

Twitter will soon begin testing a new feature called Audio Spaces. The feature is similar to the Clubhouse and will bring to Twitter the exclusivity and feel of Facebook Rooms and WhatsApp groups.

The new product will allow a user to gather in dedicated spaces for live audio conversations with another person or with groups of people.

Twitter didn’t reveal how the feature will work when the product was announced earlier this month but some digging by the reverse engineer, Jane Manchun Wong has revealed some specifics about how Audio Spaces would work.

Here are some of the functionalities to expect;

Conversation Control

Wong’s screenshot of the Audio Spaces beta shows that Twitter will enable the same conversation control available for tweets in the feature. This will allow users to configure their Audio space to either be open to anyone who wants to join, only to people they follow or only to people they specifically invite to join.

Multiple User Invite Option

There are also several methods available to add users to the Audio Spaces including Direct messaging (DM), posting a link via tweet or copying a link to shared.

Speaker Controls

Once in the dedicated space, the creator will be able to decide who can speak at any time. From an in-app menu, creators will be able to manage the speakers, adjust other settings, while other users view the rules, share feedback or report the space, among other things.

To limit noise, users will have to enter the space with their microphones disabled but they will be able to react to conversations with a variety of emojis like the “100,” raised hand, fist, peace sign and waving hand.

However, the creator also has the option to unmute everyone in the room depending on the space need and preference.

Transcriptions

In addition to that, Audio Spaces will have a unique transcription of the chat function. Most audio chat room services don’t have the feature which makes the new space very unique.

Apart from the obvious benefit for journalism, they could keep users modest enough in their use of language as everything said can be reproduced in written form.

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Reporting features

To protect users and moderate content on the platform, Twitter put in a “Report this Space” option. This can help users report across a category of issues including self-harm, violence, sexual content, child safety, private information or abusive behaviour.

Also, because the Audio spaces is in its beta stages, testers will also have access to a “Share Feedback” option that allows them to DM Twitter (@TwitterSpaces).

Periscope Backend

While exploring the beta version, Wong also pointed out that the new product was using Periscope as its backend. Periscope is an American live video streaming app.

In summary,

Though the social media platform may later change the feature of the product when it later rolls out but Wong’s findings show how Twitter Audio Spaces and its features would look in action.

Twitter has earlier revealed that Audio Spaces would be launching to a small group of users. According to Twitter Staff Product Designer, Maya Gold Patterson, the test users would include a group of people who are “disproportionately impacted by abuse and harm on the platform.